A high-profile political conservative, network news contributor and Iraqi war veteran was in Salisbury on Saturday, urging youth members of the Republican Party to think beyond party-line rhetoric when choosing candidates to lead their country.

"It is no longer about party; it's about principle," said Allen West, a former Florida congressman and well-known member of his party's tea party movement. "We have to explain that we want to create wealth. It's about principles and values, not about parties."

About a dozen or more student members of the Salisbury University College Republicans, along with members of the Maryland Coalition of Teen Elephants, attended a chat with West in the afternoon at the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art.

The Ward event also included an Allen West Guardian Roundtable that raised funds for his Guardian Fund political action committee. Supporters were invited to make donations between $1,000 and and $250.

The visit would culminate with a Patriot's dinner Saturday night at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center.

"This is the most prominent national figure to visit Salisbury in a very long time," said Dave Parker, chairman of the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee. "It is an opportunity for people to meet and hear one of the most famous conservatives to visit the Lower Shore."

Hearing criticisms of the Democratic Party and the Obama administration from another African American also erases misconceptions about any racial bias against the president, he said.

"He's talking to the young college Republicans and high school Republicans from around the state, wanting them to think about the future," Parker said. "When he criticizes the president, nobody can accuse him of racism."

West became the nation's first African-American Republican congressman since Reconstruction, serving in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013 for Florida's 22nd congressional district.

The Wicomico County Republican Central Committee invited West as speaker for the group's first Patriot's Dinner that raises money to support Republican efforts throughout the Lower Shore and Dorchester County.

West warned students to not be duped by reports of a robust economy and job growth. The number of people on food stamps, or government nutrition assistance, totals a whopping 47 million, far more than historical numbers, he said.

Unemployment is 20 percent among teens and 40 percent among blacks, and part-time jobs are steadily replacing stable, full-time employment, West said.

"We need to rein in the Federal Reserve; we have an artificial economy," West said. "The problem is, people used to have full-time jobs, now they have two and three part-time jobs.

"Minimum wage jobs are not a career," he also told the youth.

Leonard Robinson, a 15-year-old resident of Suitland in Prince George's County, said he hopes young people are motivated by West to focus on conservative values.

"My purpose is not to pull minorities into the Republican Party and the Patriot's movement," said Robinson, founder of the Teen Elephants. "African-Americans and other minorities should naturally be attracted because of the values they represent — a strong belief in God, limited government and freedom and liberty."

West took a swipe at the Democrat-led state of Maryland where proposed regulations are going to "squash farmers," he said.

"I'm concerned about the future," West said. "I'm worried about passing on the American Dream to the next generation."